The subject matter disclosed herein relates to power generation systems and asset degradation. In particular, the embodiments described herein relate to control systems for power generation systems suitable for modeling base-lining of certain asset degradations.
Many control systems for power generation systems may use a variety of models to predict the performance of the power generation system and control various aspects of the system based on the prediction. These models may be physics-based models that predict performance based on the relationships between the components of the power generation system, physics of the component materials, and the operating environment. Often, these models may be determined based on known physical relationships between parameters (e.g., a known relationship between pressure and volume) as well as relationships captured through both lab and on-site testing.
To determine the state of one or more components of the power generation system, the control system may use one or more baselines that describe the operation of a device or system in a particular state (e.g., operating normally, slight degradation, moderate degradation, etc.). These baselines may be determined by the manufacturer(s) of the power generation system and/or the individual components, or in lab and on-site testing. Each baseline may represent a single parameter of the device or system or an attribute of a material affected by the device or system. The control system may also include one or more sensors configured to measure these parameters of or associated with the devices and systems, which may then be compared to the baselines to determine the state of the devices and systems.
However, the baselines used by the control system may be static in nature. For example, the baselines may be a singular value or set of values that does not change to account for varying operating conditions (i.e., each baseline represents the state of a device or system in a particular operating condition). In such cases, the control system may then contain several baselines related to a device or system, each representing the state of the device or system for a different operating condition. Additionally, the baselines may not be updated to account for the usage of the device or system over time. Even if the baselines are updated, those updates may be infrequent (e.g., baselines are updated only when a component is moved and installed in a new system). Further, the process of updating the baselines may be a manual process. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a system or method for dynamically adjusting the baselines used to evaluate the performance of various devices and systems in a power generation system.